If a foreigner is to be appointed as manager of England, I think a Frog should come in. Both Houllier and Wenger are both full of experience but both have not finished jobs. Roy Hodgson has not had enough managerial experience in England, which can also be said about Sven-Goran Eriksson. Whoever England come up with doesn't matter. After all, fans don't go to see the manager, they go to watch footballers, and the manager must bring through the young talent that is clearly there, but not being given a chance.

On a personal note, I would like to gloat about the fact that I am top of the league. As I write this Ipswich are fifth - so I am happy. Enough gloating.

G'day,

Phil

P.S. Check out Olly's feet. I believe that they hold the secret to all technical faults on this Web site. I would also like to make an apology to Chris and to anyone else who is not from this land we call Eng, as my column was about the England manager vacancy. My unheartfelt apologies to you all.

P.P.S. Keep up the good work, Abba.

I have returned. Yes, I know some of you thought I had died – I haven’t.

Now, first and foremost, I must make an apology to Mr. Ab – I let him down badly last year and I apologise for it. However, this year you will have a column out of me every month.

On with the column. This year promises to be an exciting one; some new blood, in the form of Lord Andrew Mower of Elsing and the man with one of the sweetest right foots in the amateur game, Mr. Bill Randell [William Randell has since pulled out of Football Dreams IV - William].  As a now permanent member, I welcome you both, and I welcome back all the old members too. I hope you are all ready to give your money to Thom this year.

This year there are some new faces to bid for. I predict Mr Van Nilly will be hot property, as will his new friend Juan Veron. I expect that the bidding will be high for these two clowns.  Bidding will also be big for last year’s top scorer Uncle Jimmy from the King's Road, and Thierry Henry, as always, will be big, although someone may prefer Marian Pahars.  These are the people who will go for big bucks, but there will be plenty of gambles up for grabs. Dwin can have another look at Gazza, but seriously, Radzinski of Everton, the top scorer in Belgium last season, could be an interesting purchase, although Van Dyck and Poirot are past winners of the award.  Another gamble: Counago of Ipswich is one of the hottest prospects from Spain, and can Marcus Stewart recapture some of his form from last year? Bob Keane, can he be the player he was last year? – I think so.  Francis Jeffers could provide interest at the auction but the question for me is: will he fit in with the rest of the team?  I think it is clear that the new England number 1, Richard Wright, will be hot property as well.

I, personally, made some big mistakes last year, and by that I mean Alen Boksic and a few other dodgy purchases, and I am keen to make amends.  Remember, children, that I am writing this column on 23rd July and much can happen between now and the day of reckoning.  Three weeks is a long time and in that time something mad like Ipswich buying a Nigerian for £4 million might just well happen, although that is pretty unlikely, or a manager who looks reasonably safe and has brought in players over the summer could be fired for no apparent reason.

I look forward to seeing how some new managers do, like Steve McClaren, who has been a very successful coach under some very successful managers, namely Fergie and Jim Smith, and will have learnt well, I’m sure. My surprise at the choice of Glenn Roeder taking over at West Ham was boundless – it left me thinking that I, Phil Steventon, could one day manage a pencil.

Ah, well, good luck to you all,

Not only was the auction an enjoyable day for all concerned, but also Mr. Ab gave us, as promised, the Victorian decadence we were all hoping for [Edwardian, actually - William]. The auction was a huge success, notably because new records were set in the transfer fees paid. Mr. Swift-Gibbs, understanding that a striker is the player who will get you the most points throughout the season, [paid £32 million for Ruud van Nistelrooy]. A wise move by him. Bloody stupid, but wise. Mr. Mo also had a fine debut, a man (or should I say lord) who is used to having large amounts of cash available to him. It was unsurprising that he was economical with his purchases and yet acquired some very shrewd buys. Thom, as always, got his squad to a high standard, while Bryan and Ade went from the sublime to the ridiculous, Olsch was not as rash as he normally is and the Webmaster himself bought a team to chase for honours. So a good auction and, perhaps more importantly, good pizza.

The shock of the season so far has to be Jaap Stam's sudden departure from Old Trafford. Nice to see Fergy looking at the long term; after he's gone, Laurent 'Mont' Blanc has no long term future at United because he, without being ageist, is too old. Undoubtedly, as Fergy said, 'Wes Brown is the future', but I ask him, without turning in to a Zen monk, that he should concentrate on winning everything he can this year while he is still at the helm. However, we can't complain about the past, 'that bird has flown', and I remain convinced that, despite their reasonable start to the season, they will not win the League. My tip is still Leeds, just to go against the grain, but more on the Premiership at a later stage in proceedings.

It won't have escaped everyone's attention that there was a small game of fussball in Munich recently and, despite England beating Germany last year [at Euro 2000], we were both poor sides then. However, this year I was under the impression that we were the underdogs, that German football was getting better with time. How wrong I was; they seemed to have gone over the fact that, deep under the surface, they are not the team of 5 years ago, or the team that we expect to have some of our best and exciting battles (don't mention the war, anyone) with, and the way they defended was pitiful. In one way, it was sad to see, but in another it was nice to see them reduced to a sham. A fine young England team, given time (i.e. a year), will challenge the world in Japan (I refuse to acknowledge South Korea due to religious reasons) under the seedy eyes of Mr. Burns, will do 'excellent' and just might bring an old friend called Jules Rimet home.

Good luck to all the managers during the month.

Until next time, devoted fans, I bid you good day,

Regards,

Phil

The season has got off to a fine start, with Arsenal starting in blistering form and then losing 4 games in little over a week, Liverpool looking almost German in there efficiency, and Man United dropping vital early points against Bolton, Villa and Fulham – teams that we would expect them to beat in second gear. And who would have thought that Peter Reid would be the first managerial casualty of the new season? – well I did. On a more local front, Norwich finally look as if they are going to finally do something in the promotion race and after seeing them in the East Anglian derby they look solid enough to finish higher than last year. They seem to have a bit more quality this year and a fine defence.

All this was not on show yesterday, however, for mine and Mr. Ol Greef’s trip to Selhurst park (November 2nd). We saw some exciting football in the torrential rain, with Wimbledon nearly throwing away a 3 goal half time lead, but with a bit of assistance from the Hindu linesman they won through.

My team, Ipswich, after early promise (including a 6 - 1 drubbing of now second-placed Leicester) have fallen away badly and as I look in the paper this morning I see them languishing in 20th position. As much as it pain’s me to say it, Burley had to go – I saw them at Wimbledon where they were fortunate to get away with a 1 - 0 win, the goal scored in the last minute. But the wheels finally came off against Grimsby, where we were battered. Performances had been poor and it was no surprise to see Burley go. When I was at the Reading away game the talk was of Peter Reid getting the job, but the popular choice seemed to be Tony Mowbray. After watching Ipswich being battered by a hard hitting Reading side (where I was doing a scouting mission on my loaned out centre half Matthew Upson), though, Mowbray couldn’t get the job, and after dropping 2 points at home to Burnley and being outplayed at home to Gillingham we needed a manager who was detached from Ipswich history. Joe Royle was my first choice and I was disgusted to hear Ipswich fans booing at the mere suggestion of him being appointed as manager. He deserves a chance and has the experience of getting a First Division side promoted.

Back to matters Premier League and I felt that when Arsene Wenger claimed that Arsenal could go all season unbeaten that he had taken over the Fergie-style annual claim – but as it turns out I am delighted that Arsenal were beaten because no team can do what Wenger was suggesting. Whilst I am talking of matters Arsenal, I would like to say that old saying ‘form is temporary, class is permanent’. It has never been more true than in Arsenal’s case; they have too many exciting player for them to continue in this poor run of form. I still expect them to be retaining their title in the second week of May, although if Liverpool continue in the way they have started they will also take some beating. Liverpool seem to have this knack of winning games that they perhaps don’t deserve to – which is what Man United did for years. However, I feel that Liverpool are still a bit short in Europe. The games against Valencia show how far they still must travel if Houllier still harbours ambitions of being the next Shankley or Paisley. Of Man United, I don’t see them dominating English football the way they have done for as long as Ferguson is manager. I think he should have retired after winning the Treble because by continuing I feel that his reputation is being harmed somewhat. Finally, at the bottom of the league I see the three teams I tipped to go down already in the relegation places – West Brom, Sunderland and Bolton. I stand by this prediction as Bolton, for me, have too many freeloaders - not Djorkaeff, but in the form of Ivan Campo, a joke of a ‘defender’ at Real Madrid, and Jay-Jay Okocha. They have players on massive wages of who I question the motives of coming to Bolton other than the money. Sunderland, although with a new manager who to me is a joke, have neither the ability or determination to stay in the league and West Brom, I feel, will go down not through a lack of grit and determination but just lack of quality.

Good day fellow football fans,

Phil

Merry Christmas fellow Football Dreams followers.

Enough with the pleasantries but I have football to discuss.  Since my last column, Liverpool have gone tits up. I’m not saying they’re unlucky, but if they fell in a barrel full of tits [there's a mammary theme developing here - William] they would emerge sucking their own thumbs.  Anyways, Liverpool, I feel, are paying for the stinginess of either their board or masseur [Monsieur? - William] Houllier in not signing the excellent Damien Duff to provide at least a little width, which they woefully lack. Duff, funnily enough, is in poor form, maybe thinking he could be challenging for major honours with last year's top 3. This compared to Arsenal and Man Utd who use width to their best ability. For Man U there's Giggs and, this month, Solskjaer. Arsenal, although they don’t have the old fashioned wingmen of Man Utd, have people who can hug the touchline.  However, I don’t believe that Duff is the answer to all of Liverpool’s problems. Under Houllier, Liverpool have survived on a watertight defence that has now somehow gone missing. Hyypia does not look as commanding as he once did and Dudek’s atrocious form has cost Liverpool vital games at Middlesbrough and at home to Man Utd.  This, added to their elimination from the Champions League to an exceptionally average team in Basle, has resulted in a very bad spell for Liverpool in which poor performance holds more to their downfall than bad luck, which, to be fair, was there for all to see in their defeat against a very poor Sunderland team that, despite their victory over Liverpool, will go down to Liverpool being negative and rubbish, attributes they share with Mr. Wilkinson.  West Brom and Bolton will join them [back in the Nationwide - William], I believe, as I have from the start of the season. West Brom, despite effort, lack quality and I hate everything about Bolton. It’s a long rivalry going back to 1998/99 but I don’t like their manager, stadium, players, fans or anything about the god forsaken place apart from Peter Kay.

Man Utd, on the other hand, have gone from a team which I thought (and still do) that had their best days under Ferguson behind them [to... - William].  However, impressive performances from Sabba Veron and Phil Neville (that is hard to say without falling over) against Arsenal would have been in vain if Henry could have been bothered to finish a one on one, but in a must win game for Man Utd they did exactly that. I don’t think they will win the Premiership because of their poor away performances this season and I still think they lack something. It is interesting that results have improved since Beckham and Keane’s injuries and, because of this, should the two mentioned have the automatic right to return to the first team? Certainly, Ole Solskjaer’s performances should keep Beckham out, although players of Roy Keane’s calibre will walk into any team in the world. Man Utd seem to have a smaller squad than Arsenal and when Man Utd had a few injuries their substitutes bench seemed to tell a story; ordinary looking youth players, whereas Arsenal have full internationals to fall back on. This is the reason why I believe that Arsenal will win the Premiership again.

On matters Nationwide, I have seen Norwich again through another inept away performance, at Crystal Palace last weekend. They looked very poor and, although I haven’t seen them at fortress Carrow Road this season, it is hard to see how they are so high in the table. Frankly, they look ordinary. If Norwich are to win promotion, they must learn how to win away and not to rely so much on their excellent home form. Losing five away games on the spin is rubbish by anyone’s standards. Ipswich continue to baffle me. At times they look like the team that Burley thought could score 100 goals and at other times they look like the team that their league position suggests. I, like most Town fans blinded by the plight that we find ourselves in, still believe we can make the Play-Offs. I have no grounds for saying this but I still believe we can do it. Big Fat Joe is a good manager and, maybe not this year, but under his reign we will be back in the Premiership.

It just leaves me to say Merry Christmas one and all. I’m now off to enquire about the work permits of The Cheeky Girls and, if all their paperwork is not up to date, I will see to it personally that they are deported.

Merry Christmas ,

Phil

Hello fellow football fans,

As Lou Reed once put it: "You're going to reap just what you sow". Don't worry, I'm not talking about the results of a disappointing harvest. No, I'm talking about Leeds. Just two years ago, they had successfully made it into the Champions League Semi-Final despite having had one of the toughest routes to get there, being drawn against Barcelona, Milan and Real Madrid. Furthermore, at that point in time, I, along with a goodly percentage of the football-watching public, believed that this Leeds team would overtake Manchester Utd and go on to to achieve great things, just as Leeds did during the early Seventies. Things certainly looked good when they signed Rio, adding one of the best young defenders to a squad already full of potential. This should have been the start of a glory spell for Leeds. As we know, it wasn't and the short term future won't be either. Terry Venables would have thought to himself at the start of this season that he had a good chance of achieving something. However, as soon as he arrived he was told that he needed to sell £15million worth of players. When he reluctantly allowed Rio to dance along the sand of the M62 and join Manchester Utd, that should have been it for selling players; the money that was needed had been got and Leeds' bank balance would have looked a lot healthier. As we all know, though, it wasn't. Following Rio out the door of Elland Road was Lee 'they're going to love you in an Asian borough' Bowyer. That was fair enough - he was going to go on a free anyway. However, the selling of Jonathon Woodgate and Robbie Fowler would have driven me to resign if I was Venables, especially with Fowler being a man who was brought in 14 months ago for £11million and yet was sold on at a price that was as 'cheap as chips'. These decisions were out of Venables' hands, although his treatment of Olivier Dacourt and David Batty was scandalous. Every side needs someone who can sit in the midfield, win possession and distribute the ball effectively; the two mentioned could both do that. Furthermore (hello, Millsy), Harry Kewell is not good enough to be a striker and Alan Smith is not a right-sided midfielder. Frankly, Leeds' whole situation can be blamed at the feet of three people: firstly, Terry 'the most tactically fraudulent coach in the world' Venables; secondly, Mr. Ridsdale for not standing up to the board more than he did; thirdly, the board for wanting their money. I appreciate that football is a business, but not when the business thinks it is bigger than the game and in Leeds' case this has happened. Oh, and let us not forget David O'Leary in all of this. He spent a lot of money and won nothing. Anyone who thinks Seth Johnson is an £8 million pound player has to have their judgement questioned somewhat.

There is no point in talking about the Premiership - the best team are Arsenal. They play the best football and are the most exciting to watch. Liverpool? - hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha for being so bloody negative. They deserve nothing (remember, people, that you reap what you sow). Manchester Utd know what it takes to win the League and have the players to do so again, but they are still not convincing away from home. I believe that they may start to improve their away record because once they smell the blood of the Premiership crown, they will be hard to beat. I still don't like Chelsea but they are still up there and should be good enough to make the Champions League. Finally, to Newcastle, who I believe will win the Premiership at some point in the next three seasons. They have a manager who lives for football, a trait which the fans of his club share. Their all out attack approach, which has caught them out against the more tactically-minded European sides, will beat most teams in the Premiership at St. James Park and will pick them up a few points away from home. They have an exceptionally talented young side in the form of Bellamy, Dyer, Jenas and now Woodgate, and an excellent 'keeper, so there is a backbone to that side which is as good as any. When you add Shearer, Robert, Solano and Speed, this team will win something sooner or later.

On matters Nationwide, Norwich will slide down the table if they don't realise sooner or later that if you want to win games away  from home (something that you have to do if you want to go up) you occasionally have to attack. Their refusal to do this leads me to believe that Norwich will not even make the Play-Offs. Ipswich, as I have been saying all along, will make the Play-Offs, as David Dickinson will tell you that quality always comes through. Ipswich have the quality which is needed. However, getting rid of Martijn Reuser was saddening for me because of his performances last time round in the Play-Offs when he finished off Bolton and Barnsley. It is sad to see him go, but if Joe Royle doesn't play the top earner at the club then he has to go, and if Ipswich go up through the Play-Offs then this decision will have been of little significance.

It's time for me to make like a Croatian city - and Split.

That is all for now, fellow football fans,

Phil

P.S. As you will be aware by now, this is my third column, some would say a record breaking column in the sense. However, I would not like t'draw notice to my column record but rather to my charity work: five fun runs in two years. Ask the people at MENCAP what they think of Phil 'The Saint' St. Eventon.

The off-season has been as exciting as any off-season that I can remember – only because of Chelsea. Never before has one team spent so much money and been linked with virtually every major player in world football. To think not only of the players Chelsea did sign, but the ones they attempted to sign – Vieri, Henry, Raul and many more. What with the ‘Beckham situation’ as well, it shows us that in the modern game, everyone has a price. Chelsea have signed some quality players this summer, of that there is no question. However, some of these players are unproven at the very top level – Bridge, Johnson, Joe Cole. These players have never played in teams which have had the pressure of winning every week, in the top club and international competitions. However, I have always been a fan of signing players who have something to prove – and they have signed plenty of them. Sabba Veron never quite lived up to his £28million price tag at Man Utd and will want to prove to people in Manchester and in the rest of the country that he is the world class player that Man Utd thought they where signing. Damien Duff has had a taste of the top at the 2002 World Cup and he impressed, so what can he do in the Champions League against the world’s best will be good to watch? I think he will prove to be Chelsea’s best signing. Adrian Mutu I know very little about, but to score 17 goals in Serie A and be thought of as a second striker is no mean feat. I can see Chelsea coming close to winning the league, but I think they will fall a bit short. In the Champions League, though, I can see them making at least the semi-finals.

Man Utd and Arsenal will, of course, be the favourites to win the league. A lot has been said about Arsenal not strengthening their squad for this season but this can often be a blessing in disguise. Chelsea benefited last season from having the same set of players and Arsenal could well have the same. The Arsenal first team, I believe, is better than Man Utd’s but, as we saw last season, when injuries and suspensions come (and they will), Arsenal don’t have players of the same quality to come in. That said, Man Utd’s bench last season looked very weak but they have strengthened their squad and, like always with Man Utd, they won’t be far away come May. However, I see both Man Utd and Arsenal failing to make a big impact on Europe.

Liverpool have made a very good signing in Harry Kewell at a very good price. He will make an impact to some extent. However, it takes more than one signing to change the mentality of a football team. I think Gerard Houllier has taken Liverpool as far as he can – he has brought them a long way – but there were too many ordinary performances last season by the Liverpool players and I think that some of them would like a change at the top. The way things stand I can see another bad season for Liverpool – I don’t think they will make the top six.

I felt Newcastle could upset the top two from last year. However, they have many good midfielders but, other than Gary Speed, none of them can tackle and win the ball. Dyer, Jenas, Bowyer, Robert and Solano are all good when they have the ball, but when they don’t they struggle. I can see Newcastle coming 4th this year, which is still a decent achievement, and also winning a cup competition, which the fans so desperately crave.

At the bottom, I can see the three promoted sides staying up. I think Bolton will go down; although they have signed some good players, they are players who do not have a great love for Bolton and, because of this, when the chips are down there will be no-one who cares enough to keep them going. Others to struggle, I think, will be Fulham, because of similar reasons to what I think will happen to Bolton. The other team to struggle could be Charlton or Middlesbrough. I feel that both are lacking quality, while Boro will fight to pick up points on their travels.

My Predictions in Full:

League winners: Arsenal

F.A Cup winners: Chelsea

League Cup winners: Newcastle

Relegated: Bolton, Fulham, Charlton

Champions League places: Arsenal, Man Utd, Chelsea, Newcastle

UEFA Cup places: Man City, Everton

Finally, a big thank you to Mr. Ab for hosting the Football Dreams with such grace and, more importantly, plenty of nibbles and soft drink.

Hello,

There were two main feelings before the England v Turkey game amongst pundits: (1) That Turkey were a world class side; and (2) England perform at their best when it really matters against the big teams. Thankfully, the first of these proved to be complete rubbish. Turkey are a decent side, and they made it to a World Cup Semi-Final, but they never had to face any serious opposition other than Brazil in that tournament. I never expected anything worse than a draw; I couldn’t see how they could hurt us. Indeed, it proved to be the case. England had a reasonably comfortable evening. Sure, it would have been nice to have won, and England had the chances to do just that, but it was a job done. The main issue to come out of the game was not that England had booked their place in Portugal next summer, but the running spat (no pun intended) between Beckham and the rest of the Turkey team. I have always been a believer in 'whatever happens on the pitch should stay there'. Alpay was silly, I’m not doubting that, but he doesn’t deserve to be kicked out of the country for it. Beckham was equally as silly for expressing what Alpay had said to him to the TV men. He could have shown a touch more discretion but, hey, 'if my aunty had b******s, she’d be my uncle'. The build up for this game was overshadowed by two big talking points: (1) Rio Ferdinand not playing because of missing a drug test; and (2) The possibility of Mr. Eriksson leaving. Firstly, on the subject of Rio, while the issue of missing a drugs test shouldn’t be belittled, whatever happened to being innocent until proven guilty? There is no need for Rio to miss any football until a decision has been made over how long he will be suspended for. Secondly, about Mr. Eriksson, it’s interesting to think that this man is criticised as much as he is in England when his track record is very decent. Apart from a strange performance in the World Cup Quarter-Final against Brazil, England have been as good as anyone when qualifying for the last two major tournaments and I don’t see how he can be questioned. I also believe that he won’t go to Chelsea. Call me old fashioned, but I think he is a man of honour and would not walk out on England while he is still wanted by the Football Association. I believe that one day he may manage Chelsea, but only after his time with England. If he did walk out on England for Chelsea, he would have lost the respect of many people, including myself, but if 'Championship Manager' has taught us nothing, he could miss the day-to-day involvement of club management and the temptation of Chelsea could be a bit like Ulrika and just be too much.

On the field again, the Premiership has already developed in to a three horse race. Man Yoo are still going to be the team to beat. Although Chelsea came a cropper at Highbury last weekend, they have bags of quality in the squad, enough to ensure that they stay with the two usual suspects. The next 17 places in the league are pretty tight, and I believe you could see some teams that you wouldn’t expect to finish high up the league doing just that. Birmingham were a tip of mine to do that at the start of the year, and I think they will. Likewise, I can see a team that you may not expect to be caught up in a relegation scrap, doing that too.

I have been very lucky to see a lot of live football recently, mainly Ipswich. Last week, the 6 - 1 demolition of Burnley was a case of Ipswich taking all of their chances and, this week, a 4 - 3 win at Crystal Palace was one of the most exciting games I have seen, mainly due to some kamikaze defending by both teams, which I suppose made it the exciting spectacle it was. I have questioned Ipswich’s quality this season, especially in depth, and our subs bench on Tuesday night consisted of three players aged 18 years old or younger, with two 18 year-olds in the starting line up too. However, I have never questioned the effort and the two quality loan signings have certainly helped us enormously. I also saw Norwich at West Ham last week. A draw, on the face of it, was a good result at a team who were expected to run away with the league. Nonetheless, West Ham were without Defoe and Connolly and were there for the taking. I was amazed to see Norwich holding the ball by the corner flag for the last few minutes instead of going for the win, and the Budgie fans around me in the crowd thought it was disappointing, as did I.

Good day, sports fans.

My England squad for Euro 2004 is:

Goalkeepers (3): David James, Paul Robinson, Robert Green

Defenders (8): Gary Neville, Danny Mills, Ashley Cole, Wayne Bridge, John Terry, Sol Campbell, Gareth Southgate, Glen Johnson

Midfielders (7): David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes, Frank Lampard, Kieron Dyer, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Owen Hargreaves

Strikers (5): Michael Owen, Jermain Defoe, Wayne Rooney, Emile Heskey, Darius Vassell

It's been quite a while since my last column and, as is often the way, quite a bit has happened. I watched a month's worth of football to find out Greece were the best team in Europe. I'm not sure they are, but they beat the hosts twice, the holders and the 'form' team of the tournament, so I guess they deserved it more than anyone else - so congratulations to them. However, if anyone has any spare tickets for any of their forthcoming fixtures, I will be washing my hair.

Now to the new season. I have no idea who will win the Premiership. I don't see Arsenal going unbeaten; I don't even think that they will win the league. Man United dropped too many points in games they used to win last season, especially against the 'lesser' teams, and I don't see too may changes within their squad to make me change my opinion of them. That said, there were glimpses of past glories last season against Arsenal in the FA Cup semi final, so I might be wrong. Chelsea, the most interesting amphibian of the Premiership yard pond, have signed 'the European Champion' - I think he is their best signing. They have signed a terrific defender in Carvalho, a man who has bags of composure. They have signed a rough diamond in Drogba - he could be very good, but then again he could be Adrian Mutu. I think their best best signing is Arjen Robben [not Mourinho, then? - WA], a player who may be arrogant and balding, but a great talent, with a great deal of ability. Liverpool have lost Michael Owen but I think his best days are behind him, and have signed another raw talent in Gerbil Cisse. I think Liverpool's biggest problem is depth of squad but I still expect them to finish fourth at worst. Newcastle have a lot of young players who fail to collectively stand up. The time for talent and promise is over at the age of 23/24; there has to be a point where they deliver. I think it is now or never for many of Newcastle's players.

The quest for the fifth and sixth spots this year should be more interesting than in previous years. Spurs, Villa, Birmingham and Middlesbrough have all spent money, and fans and chairman alike will want some return. I believe that they will join Newcastle in the chase for the UEFA Cup spot. This goes to show the strength of the top ten in the Premiership this season. The teams mentioned will give the top four many tough afternoons this season because of the improved quality they all have.

As for relegation, some 'pundits' would say the three teams that came up will go straight back down, and who am I to argue? However, of the three I do think that Norwich are best-equipped to stay up. I think joining them in a relegation dogfight will be Everton and Pompey, mainly due to their respective poor attack and poor defence. Norwich do have a few quality players who could play in many Premiership teams if they were to go down.

Here are my predictions for the season (one or two slight differences from Tony Gale!):

Premiership winners: Arsenal
Runners-up: Chelsea
Champions League spots: Liverpool and Man United
UEFA Cup: Newcastle
FA Cup: Man United
League Cup: Spurs
Bottom three: Everton, West Brom, Palace
Promoted: Leicester, Wolves, Forest

Men to watch: Arjen Robben, William 'Jamma' Defoe, Bob Green, Wayne Routledge, Julian Gray, Ronaldo, and many many more……